A tour of the Hampton Plantation State Historic Site may be one of the best ways to experience South Carolina’s cultural heritage and Low Country history. The Hampton Plantation story begins in the mid 18th century and continues on into the 20th, tracing the lives of three prominent families among the coastal plains. Hampton’s last owner, Archibald Rutledge, has captured the essence of Low Country living, found woven throughout his poems and writings. Born in 1883, Rutledge began writing in his teens and continued into his 80s. Named Poet Laureate of South Carolina, Rutledge died just weeks before his ninetieth birthday in the same room he was born.
   In 1971, Rutledge and his family donated Hampton Plantation to the State of South Carolina, ensuring it would be available for the public to enjoy. Built sometime between 1730 and 1750, the plantation house quickly evolved, financed by the rice and indigo era of the South. Utilizing African slave labor, the plantation first occupied 600 acres, quickly branching out over a few thousand acres. Heavily pillaged during the Revolutionary War by the British, the mansion was spared from the torch. Able to save the house, owner Daniel Huger Horry was considered a traitor by Americans and forced to pay an Amercement Tax to retain his property. After the Civil War, when plantation owners struggled to maintain their holdings, the Hampton Plantation managed to carry on. Archibald Rutledge returned to the plantation in 1937, spending the remainder of his life there, restoring the home, and writing a book entitled Home by the River.

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